A/N: Before you begin reading, just so you know, PokeSpeak, as I call it, will be displayed in bold.
Ch. 2
After two hours of traveling through the unforgiving desert, Ash and his family finally reached the oasis that was Phenac City. The three adults were surprised to find so much water in the middle of the desert and at first thought it was a mirage. But when they landed at the main gate leading into the city, they were quickly greeted by Wes and Rui, who had kindly gotten them water bottles, they realized what they were seeing is real. Wes and Rui proceeded to show the three around the large city, including the main Colosseum and the pre-Colosseum.
"Pre-Colosseum?" Misty asked, and Wes nodded.
"Yeah, it's where people go to practice their skills in double battles before heading on to the main Colosseum in the middle of the city." Wes explained.
"Well, I want to go ahead and go to the main Colosseum! I'm ready!" Ash said confidently, but Misty and Brock sighed.
"Ash, can't you let us rest for awhile? We've been traveling for three straight days, and I'm sure your Pokemon are tired." Misty said, and Pikachu nodded exhaustedly, suddenly looking like he was about to pass out.
"Aww…but Misty, we just got hear, and I'm itching to battle already!" Ash complain, but Misty, who was also tired, exploded.
"ASH KETCHUM, IF YOU DON'T LET US REST RIGHT NOW, I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU REGRET THAT YOU EVEN WANTED TO BECOME A POKEMON TRAINER!" Misty yelled, and Ash knew that he wasn't going to win this 'discussion', so he started shaking his hands and laughed nervously.
"Okay, Misty, okay…Wes, where's the nearest hotel?" Ash asked, and Wes chuckled.
"Just a couple of blocks away; it's right next door to a Pokemon Center, so you can drop off your Pokemon with Nurse Joy while we get you guys some rooms." Wes said, and he led the three to the Pokemon Center, and when Nurse Joy walked in with one of her Chansey, she smiled when she recognized Wes.
"Hello Wes, Rui. It's good seeing you two again." The Pokemon doctor greeted, and Wes and Rui smiled.
"Likewise Nurse Joy." Wes said politely, and the next he knew, Brock shoved Wes to the side. He had the wind knocked out of him from hitting the ground but recovered in time to get up, and see Brock take one of the Nurse's hands in one of his own, get on one knee, and stare at her lovingly.
"Oh Nurse Joy! I was worried that I wouldn't see you again! That this desert would separate us!" Brock said, and Wes and Rui sweat dropped, and Nurse Joy was creeped out by the stranger's announcement of undying love for her, although they never met.
"Uhhh…Misty? What's Brock doing?" Rui asked, and Ash shook his head.
"He does this every time he sees a Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny, no matter where he is." Misty answered.
"Nurse Joy, you are the most beautiful person I've met ever since I've entered this forsaken desert!" Brock said, and Rui was starting to get angry.
"Wait a minute! He's met me!" Rui said, and Wes was starting to get nervous.
"Well Rui, he probably already knew that you were my girlfriend when he first met us." Wes said, trying to get Rui to calm down, but she wouldn't listen to him.
"Hmph!" Was all Rui said as she stomped over to Brock, grabbed him by the collar, began beating the living daylights out of him. She was moving so fast, a dust cloud started to appear between her and Brock, and neither of them could be seen. The only thing that could be made out was the sounds of Rui's thrashing, and Brock begging for mercy.
"Wow…she's…scarier than Misty…" Ash said, but his only response was Misty's infamous mallet hitting Ash on the top of the head, and Sapphire laughing at seeing her dad clutch his head and groan in pain.
"You want to say that again Ketchum!" Misty asked, and another groan in pain was her answer. "I thought not." Misty said.
"Rui's like an angel, and I love her very much, but if you make her made by insulting her looks, which is what Brock basically did in her eyes, well…everyone else wants to make sure they stay out of her way, but you canNOT escape her anger." Wes said, and the three continued to watch Rui pummel Brock, though Misty was also making sure Sapphire's eyes were covered from the violence. After a good five minutes of thrashing, Rui finally showed Brock mercy, stopping her onslaught of attacks and allowing the dust to settle, revealing that Brock was covered in bruises, his clothes were torn, and had several large bumps on his head. Though Rui walked off without a single scratch, and was smiling satisfyingly.
"So, Ash, Misty, you still want to check into that hotel? It's the most beautiful one in all of Orre." Rui said cheerfully, giving them a small giggle, and the couple were sweat dropped again, and were both mortally terrified of what she did to Brock.
"Ow…what did I do to deserve that?" Brock asked, and Wes chuckled as he, Rui, Ash, and Misty walked over to Nurse Joy and gave her their Pokemon.
"Oh, Wes, I noticed that you still have one more Poke Ball on your belt. Do you want me to take care of that Pokemon too?" Nurse Joy asked, but Wes shook his head.
"No thanks Nurse Joy; this is a Pokemon I have to take care of myself." Wes said, and Nurse Joy understood what Wes meant by that, and just simply nodded.
"Well, if you guys will return in just a few minutes, I'll have your Pokemon back to perfect health." Nurse Joy said happily, and the group thanked Nurse Joy, and made their way to the hotel that was next door. Wes paid for the three rooms he and his friends would be needing, as well as paying for full access to the PokePark; a park in the back of the hotel for Pokemon to relax and play with other Pokemon. After getting everything settled into their rooms, the trainers picked up their Pokemon from the Center, and went to the Park so their Pokemon could relax.
"Alright everyone, come on out!" Ash yelled, throwing all six of his Poke Balls into the air, and they all opened, revealing his Charizard, Pidgeot, Fearow, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Bayleef. Misty did the same, releasing her Staryu, Starmie, Gyarados, Horsea, Marill, and Psyduck. Brock released his Chansey, Sudowoodo, Croagunk, Steelix, Forretress, and Ludicolo. Wes released his Pokemon, which consisted of his Umbreon, Espeon, Metagross, Tyranitar, Houndoom, and the Bulbasaur he Snagged at the Outskirt Stand. Rui also had a Poke Ball, but it just contained the Plusle she and Wes received from Duking in Pyrite Town, so she let him out as well. Wes let most of his Pokemon do what they want, but he had Bulbasaur stay in his lap, and he started massaging the Pokemon.
"Wes, why aren't you letting your Bulbasaur play with the others?" Misty asked.
"Misty, you have to remember that this is a Shadow Pokemon. I have to open the doors to its heart, and then purify it first, before I let it loose; it could hurt itself, other Pokemon, or other people, and I can't let that happen while I'm taking care of it." Wes explained as he continued trying to massage the Pokemon, though it would occasionally squirm.
"It doesn't look any different than any other Bulbasaur." Misty said.
"If you saw it battle, you'd know something was wrong with it." Rui said, and she started helping Wes by feeding it some Pokemon food.
"Well, I can tell." Ash said, looking at the Bulbasaur, still seeing the Dark Aura around it.
"Well, you must have some control over Aura then Ash. It's a lost form these days. I can't make it take on a physical form some people could a long time ago. Though I have heard of a certain Pokemon that still can; they call it Lucario, though I've never seen one, so I don't know if that's true." Rui explained.
"I've met one once, back when I still a kid." Ash explained, and he noticed that Sapphire was chasing after Pikachu and Plusle. "Sapphire, be careful!" Ash said, though his daughter wasn't in any apparent danger.
"So Wes, do you give your Shadow Pokemon any special Pokemon food other than the stuff they sell at the PokeMarts?" Brock asked, and Wes shook his head.
"Orre isn't resourceful enough to have any naturally grown resources, so our Poke Marts here, even in here in Phenac, have to use mainly artificial ingredients." Wes said.
"What! How could you let your Pokemon eat such garbage! Don't you know what that could do to them!" Brock asked, and Wes just rolled his eyes.
"Didn't you here me Brock? Orre is too barren to grow natural ingredients for PokeFood." Wes repeated, and Brock sighed.
"Well, lucky for your Pokemon, I always carry more than enough food to go around, so if they want to try some of mine, they can go ahead." Brock said.
"Thanks Brock, I'm sure they'll appreciate the change. Why don't you go ahead and give some to Rui so she can continue feeding my Bulbasaur?" Wes asked, and Brock happily obliged. They five adults continued to talk, unaware that Sapphire was still running around with the Pokemon. They were all enjoying themselves, when Sapphire looked outside the gate of the Park, and saw a group of Pokemon, consisting of a Cubone, Beldum, Geodude, and a Squirtle.
"Pokemon!" Sapphire exclaimed happily, and walked over to the fence, hoping to get closer to them, but when she reached the fence, she got upset because she could go any further. However, when she looked over near the other fence wall, she noticed a small hole at the bottom of the fence, which was small enough for her to crawl through. So, Sapphire ran over to the hole, and began crawling through, and quickly got on the other side. However, Pikachu noticed that Sapphire had disappeared.
Pikachu started looking around, starting to panic, but sighed when he saw her walking on the sidewalk.
"Wait! Sidewalk!" Pikachu said to himself, and he quickly ran over to Ash and started jumping up and down. "Ash! Ash! Ash! Ash!" Pikachu yelled, hoping to get his trainers attention.
"Not now Pikachu; Wes is telling about some of his battles against Cipher. We can play later." Ash said, not even bothering to turn around, and Pikachu got mad, wanting to zap his master for not paying attention. But as Sapphire rounded the corner, he realized there wasn't time to wait for the humans to notice him, so he started chasing after Sapphire himself, going through the hole she crawled out of, but he noticed he wasn't the only one leaving the park.
"Pikachu! Where are you going?" Plusle asked, not wanting his new friend to leave.
"Ash's daughter has gotten out of the park! I have to return her before she gets hurt!" Pikachu said, and Plusle was shocked.
"What! That's awful! Let me help you look!" Plusle offered, and Pikachu nodded.
"Thank you Plusle!" Pikachu said, and the two took off into the city, hoping to find Sapphire before something terrible happened to her.
Meanwhile, Sapphire continued to chase after the wondering Pokemon, but none of them seemed to notice her, and they were much faster than her, and she'd normally lose sight of them for a couple of seconds before seeing them continue across the sidewalk. However, as she saw them turn into an alley, she continued to follow them, but when she walked into the alley, the Pokemon were nowhere to be found. But that didn't stop Sapphire from trying to follow them; she walked into the alley, looking everywhere for the Pokemon, but they just disappeared. Sapphire was starting to get upset again, after losing sight of the Pokemon, but she continued to search nonetheless, her search eventually leading to a construction sight.
After Wes finished his story of fighting the Cipher Admin known as Miror B., he looked around and noticed that something wasn't right.
"Hey Ash…what happened to your daughter?" Wes asked, and Ash turned around to try and look for Sapphire, but he got scared instantly when he didn't see her.
"Hey, Pikachu and Plusle are missing too!" Rui said, and she started looking around the park, but she couldn't find the two, and was starting to worry.
"Sapphire?" No answer. "Sapphire!" Still nothing. "Sapphire!" Ash yelled, and Misty was already running all over the park, trying to find her daughter, but she was nowhere to be seen. As Misty realized the horrible truth, she felt her heart shatter.
"She's missing…Sapphire's missing!" Misty yelled, and everyone was shocked at news, and Misty began crying, and Ash wasn't too far behind her, both being worried sick. "This is all YOUR fault!" Misty yelled, pointing to Ash, and he jumped back.
"What! Me!" Ash asked in utter shock, and Misty got right in his face.
"YOU were supposed to be watching her! YOU turned your back on her, and SHE ran off!" Misty yelled, and this was hurting Ash as much as the fact that Sapphire was missing.
"Bu…but Misty…" Ash stuttered, but Misty wouldn't let him speak.
"Just SHUT UP! If anything happens to Sapphire, I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" Misty yelled, and Wes got between them and spread the two apart.
"Enough! We'll never find Sapphire if you two just stand here like idiots, yelling at each other! Houndoom! Metagross!" Wes summoned, and his two Pokemon walked over to their trainer. "Metagross, Ash's daughter is missing; I need you to take to the skies and look for her. She has red hair and is wearing a blue dress, and is a couple of feet tall." Wes ordered, and Metagross nodded as he pulled in his legs and started levitating into the air, and slowly started flying deeper into the city. "Misty, do you have anything that might have Sapphire's scent?" Wes asked, and Misty went through the baby bag she carried around with her, looking for anything that might suit Wes' needs, and found the perfect thing.
"Sapphire's stuffed Eevee doll, it's her favorite." Misty said, and Wes snatched the toy and put it in front of his Houndoom.
"Boy, I need you to get Sapphire's scent. Can you do that for me?" Wes asked, and the Houndoom began smelling the toy. "Okay, when Houndoom picks up the scent, I'll go with him. Ash, Misty, I want you two to go east and look for Sapphire in that area. Rui, Brock, you two search the west. Ash, have your flying Pokemon search the north." Wes so, and everyone nodded, except for Brock, who was nervous about traveling with Rui.
"Uhh…Wes, are you sure me traveling with Rui is such a good idea?" Brock asked.
"Brock, there's no time to complain. Just do what I say!" Wes said, and Brock, realizing that Wes was right, nodded, and Houndoom began growling and jumping around. "The scent's weak, but it'll have to do." Wes said, and he took off with his Houndoom, who was running where the scent is strongest, while the rest of the group followed his orders.
"Sapphire! Sapphire!" Pikachu called out, hoping to find his little friend, but she was gone.
"Where do you think she went?" Plusle asked, and Pikachu shook his head.
"Sapphire is always getting into trouble, but it's never been this bad; she hardly ever leaves Ash and Misty's sight….*sigh*….this is so unlike her…" Pikachu said sadly, and they eventually came across an empty alley.
"Do you think she went through here?" Plusle asked, and the two electric Pokemon went into the alley, but saw no sign of Sapphire, until they saw a nearby construction. "*gasp* PIKACHU! LOOK UP THERE!" Plusle yelled, pointing at the construction, and the mouse looked up and saw a familiar red head wearing a blue dress, walking across I beams on a half-finished building.
"SAPPHIRE!"
Sapphire loved big construction machines, so when she saw the construction site, filled will giant machines as far as her tiny eyes could see, she got excited immediately and ran into the empty construction through a hole in the barricades that was supposed to keep non-construction workers out. As she walked through the site, she saw piece of wood that was leaning against an I beam, so she got on her hands and knees, and began crawling on it until she got onto the beam, and got back on her feet, and started walking across it, hoping to find ways to get high on the building.
"Sapphire! Sapphire! Sapphire, where are you, sweetheart! It's daddy!" Ash called out, searching desperately for his beloved daughter, but she was nowhere to be seen. Misty, however, she kept her head down and letting tears roll down her cheeks as she sobbed. Ash was aware his wife his crying, but he knew that if they stopped for a second, Sapphire could possibly get hurt during that time. But it got harder and harder for him to stop and comfort his wife with every passing second, until eventually, he stopped, turned around, and pulled Misty into a caring hug as he let her cry into her shoulder. "Hey, hey, everything's going to be fine Misty, we'll find her." Ash said reassuringly.
"I'm a horrible mother…" Misty said outright, and Ash just let Misty let out her emotions as she continued to cry.
"No you're not Misty…don't say things like that." Ash said as he rubbed Misty's back.
"Yes I am…and I shouldn't have blamed this on you Ash…I'm so sorry…" Misty said, and Ash just smiled.
"Don't be. You were right Misty; it was my fault that Sapphire disappeared. I should've kept a better eye on her." Ash said.
"No…it was just as much my responsibility to watch her was it was yours, so I'm equally to blame." Misty said, and Ash pushed Misty off of him so he could wipe her tears away and look into her bloodshot eyes.
"We'll get through this Misty, I promise; we'll find Sapphire, and be a complete family again." Ash said reassuringly, and kissed Misty's forehead, causing his wife to smile at his confidence, as it was rubbing off onto her.
"You're right Ash…though…we'll need Pikachu to be a full family." Misty said.
" I think Pikachu was trying to tell me about Sapphire while we were in the Park…oh man, I'm such an idiot!" Ash said, hitting the side of his head.
Well, if Pikachu knows where Sapphire went, when we find her, we should find Pikachu." Misty said, and the couple continued their search, unaware that Team Rocket was listening on them again in a nearby bush.
"Did you hear that?" Jessie asked, and James nodded.
"It sounds like the twerp's twerp has gone missing." James said.
"And Pikachu with ta go find her!" Meowth said, and Jessie nodded.
"That means…" Jessie said, allowing James to continue for her.
"We find the twerp…" James said, and let Meowth finish the rest.
"We find Pikachu!" Meowth finished, and three chuckled as they started their own search.
"Brock, do you see Sapphire anywhere?" Rui asked as the two walked through the city.
"N…no, I don't." Brock answered nervously, and Rui sighed when she realized why Brock was so shaky.
"Uhh…heh, heh...I'm sorry about what happened at the Pokemon Center, Brock." Rui said, scratching the back of her head. "It's just that…Ash explained why you were acting so weird around Nurse Joy, and I guess I got a little jealous when I learned that you do that to all pretty girls, but you didn't do it to me. I do tend to be a little vain from time to time, especially when it comes to my looks." Rui explained.
"Oh, well…I suspected that you and Wes were together, and I didn't want risk getting Wes mad, because he looks like he'll beat anyone that looks at you. Guess I was worried about the wrong person." Brock said with a laugh, and Rui chuckled.
"Oh, you were right to be concerned about Wes; if anyone tries to take me away from him, he'll possibly kill that person; he's extremely jealous and protective, though not too much that he won't let me live my own life." Rui explained, and she stopped and held out her hand to Brock. "Friends?"
"Friends." Brock said, shaking Rui's hand, and the two continued their search.
After searching for almost twenty minutes, Ash and Misty made a turn down a nearby alley, where they soon heard a familiar voice.
"Pika! Pika! Pipipi!"
"That's Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed.
"And it sounds like he found Sapphire!" Misty added, and they took off down the alley, and followed Pikachu's voice until they finally exited the alley, and saw a construction site. The two jumped over the barriers, and eventually saw both Pikachu, and Rui's Plusle.
"Pikachu!" Ash yelled happily, but they noticed that Pikachu was jumping excitedly, and pointing up at the half-completed building. Ash and Misty looked at where Pikachu was pointing, and was completely mortified at what they saw; Sapphire, somehow at least ten stories off the ground, walking on an I beam.
"I think I'm going to faint…" Misty said, feeling her legs getting weak, and Ash just looked determined.
"I'll be right back Misty." Ash said, and he started walking towards the building.
"Ash, what are you doing?" Misty asked as Ash walked into a nearby construction elevator.
"Getting our daughter back." Ash said, and he activated the elevator, and continued climbing up until he reach Sapphire's level. "Hang on Sapphire, I'm coming." Ash said, and he started walking across the series of I beams, careful not to lose his balance.
"Be careful Ash…" Misty whispered, praying that neither Ash nor Sapphire fell; if either of them fell and died, Misty would be completely devastated, but if she loss both of them, she wouldn't be able to go on. Ash, however, wasn't going to let his fear of falling stop him from reaching Sapphire; he slowly but surely got closer, and eventually got close enough for Sapphire to hear him.
"Sapphire!" Ash called, and his daughter turned around and smiled.
"Daddy!" Sapphire called out.
"Sapphire, just stay where you are. Let me come to you." Ash said, and Sapphire just simply nodded as Ash put one foot in front of the other, slowly getting closer. However, things weren't easy, since a strong wind was suddenly blowing. 'Just perfect, this is exactly what I need; a strong enough gust, and Sapphire and I could be sent flying.' Ash thought to himself.
"Drat! The twerps already reached Pikachu! And this time I thought were a step ahead of them!" James whined, but Jessie just smiled.
"Not to worry; we'll just use Plan B." Jessie said, and Meowth looked at each other in confusion.
"Huh? Plan B?" The two asked at the same time, and Jessie just smiled.
Although the wind was strong, Ash was determined to get to Sapphire so they could both get down safely. He was just three steps from being within arms reach of her, when suddenly, a black claw grabbed her from behind, and pulled her away from Ash.
"What!" Ash asked in shock, when he heard a familiar laugh coming from a building across from him.
"Hahaha!" The laugh continued, and Ash looked over the direction Sapphire was pulled, and could see the source of the laughter; Jessie and James from Team Rocket.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"Make it double!"
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all people within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth, that's right!"
"Give me back my daughter!" Ash demanded instantly, not wanting to put up with Team Rocket again.
"Hush boy! You'll get your little runt back!" Jessie said.
"After you give us Pikachu!" James said, and Ash just growled.
"Daddy!" Sapphire yelled out, scared out of her mind.
"I'm coming sweaty, don't worry!" Ash said, when suddenly, an extremely powerful gust of wind blew, and Ash lost his balance, starting to shake back and forth as the wind continued to blow, eventually causing Ash to fall. "Aaaaaah!"
"Ash! NO!" Misty yelled, closing her eyes, not wanting to see her husband fall to his death. And Ash continued to fall, knowing that this was the end. As he continued screaming, he closed his eyes, waiting for the final *splat*, when he felt something grab his ankle, and stop falling. Ash was confused, so he opened his eyes, and saw a familiar Metagross floating in the air, holding onto him.
"Metagross!" Ash asked, and Misty opened her eyes, seeing Metagross holding onto Ash, just as Wes and his Houndoom run over.
"Nice catch Metagross. Now put Ash down gently." Wes said, putting a lot of emphasis on gently for some reason. Metagross then slowly lowered down to the ground, stopping just a few feet above the ground. Figuring that he was close enough to the ground, Metagross let go of Ash, though he was still a few feet off the ground, and he fell on his head with loud *thud*. "That's…good enough, I suppose." Wes said, scratching the back of his.
"Ash!" Misty yelled, running over to Ash and helping him up. "Ash…are you okay?" Misty asked sincerely, as Ash sat on the ground, getting on her knees so she was eye level with him.
"Yeah Misty…I'm fine. I just have a headache." Ash said, and Metagross went over his trainer, and got back on his legs.
"Good work buddy. Now, Hyper…" Wes started, but Ash got on his feet and ran in front of Wes.
"Wait Wes! Team Rocket took Sapphire!" Ash said, and Wes gasped in shock, and got angry instantly at realizing the situation.
"What is with those guys!" Wes asked.
"They want Pikachu!" Ash explained, and Wes growled.
"Those rotten…" Wes started, but he saw Rui and Brock run over.
"Ash! We saw you fall the building! Are you alright!" Brock asked.
"Yeah Brock, I'm fine, but Team Rocket has Sapphire!" Ash yelled, and Brock and Rui gasped as well.
"You know our terms; bring Pikachu, and you'll have your runt back!" Jessie said, and the three took off with the hostage in tow.
"SAPPHIRE!" Misty called out, and Ash didn't even bother wasting any time; he took off down the alley next to the building, looking for way to scale it, when he eventually found a ladder. Ash immediately started climbing, with Wes right behind him. As the two climbed, Team Rocket where at the edge of that side of the building, hoping to jump across to the next, but when they looked down, they froze when they saw Ash and Wes climbing the ladder, but James quickly got an idea.
"Cacnea! Use Acid on the ladder!" James commanded as he threw the Poke Ball, and Cacnea jumped out the ball, but instead of melting the ladder, it jumped and started hugging James' head. "Ah! Cacnea! The ladder! Not me! The ladder!" James yelled, and Cacnea jumped off of her trainer and sprayed acid on the top of the ladder until it was completely melted off the building and started shaking.
"Ash! Be careful!" Wes yelled, and the ladder started falling back. "JUMP!" Wes yelled, and both jumped off the ladder. But instead of jumping to the side, Ash jumped up towards the roof of the building, and luckily grabbed onto the edge, and held on for dear life as he pulled himself up. As Wes fell, however, he knew that he could possibly break his leg from the impact, but Metagross appeared out of nowhere and caught him. "Thanks Metagross. I owe you big time." Wes said, petting his Pokemon before swing off his arm and landing on top of Metagross' head. "Now, take me to the top of this building. And cut off Team Rocket's escape once I get off." Wes ordered, and Metagross started going towards the top of the building.
Meanwhile, Misty, Brock, Rui, Pikachu, and Plusle waited anxiously for their friends to return safely with Sapphire, when suddenly, Officer Jenny drove over on her motorcycle and stopped next to the group.
"What's going on here! There have been reports of yelling and people falling off this building! Don't you know it's illegal to be in a construction zone! Not to mention dangerous!"
"Officer Jenny! Team Rocket kidnapped my daughter, and now my husband and his friend are chasing after them on the rooftops!" Misty explained.
"What! That's terrible! I'll call in assistance right now!" Officer Jenny said, and she pulled out her radio. "All forces in Phenac City; a group of Pokemon thieves have been spotted in the area. They have kidnapped a child and are on foot escape. They are being chased by two Pokemon trainers. I repeat, they are being chased by two Pokemon trainers." Jenny said, and she put the radio up, and Brock decided to try and get close to Jenny.
"You have a real interesting job; perhaps when you're off duty, you'd like to come with me for Pizza and…talk about it." Brock offered, and Jenny just ignored him, but Misty, however, didn't.
"ASH AND SAPPHIRE ARE IN TROUBLE, AND YOU'RE HITTING ON OFFICER JENNY!" Misty ask furiously.
"Perhaps we can talk later." Brock said to Jenny, and Misty grabbed Brock by the collar and proceeded to give him a similar beating to the one Rui gave him at the Pokemon Center, except this one was much worse.
Once Wes reached the top of the building, he quickly caught up to Ash, who was still chasing after Team Rocket, and was slowly catching up. After a few minutes of running, and jumping over the gap between buildings, Team Rocket was about to try and get away, when Metagross appeared in front of them, not at all happy to see them.
"Great! This guy again! Seviper! Go!" Jessie said, and she threw her Poke Ball, and Seviper appeared, and was ready to fight, until he recognized who his opponent was; once Seviper saw that he was going against the same Metagross that caused him and Yamask trouble earlier, he immediately ran back to Jessie and opened his own Poke Ball so he could get inside. "Grr…coward."
"Yamask still hasn't recovered from the last time he fought that Metagross, so…Cacnea, looks like it's your turn." James said, and Cacnea, who was still out of her Poke Ball, jumped forward and was ready to battle. Metagross then got on the ground and made the building shake under his weight.
"Meta. Gross." Metagross said, and Cacnea got scared instantly, and ran behind James in fear.
"Huh? Meowth, what did Metagross say that scared Cacnea?" James asked, and Meowth's legs started to shake.
"He said 'Mmm…lunch.'" Meowth translated, and James started shaking.
"I see why you got scared. Meowth, you're going to have to fight Metagross then!" Jessie said, and Meowth suddenly took Sapphire from James.
"What are talking about! I'm hold da runt!" Meowth said, and Sapphire took that opportunity to try and escape; she opened her mouth, and chomped down on Meowth's arm. "Me….OWTH!" Meowth yelled, dropping Sapphire so he could look at his arm.
"You idiot! You let her get away!" Jessie yelled.
"She bit me!" Meowth yelled back.
"That brat couldn't have had more than four teeth!" James responded. Meanwhile, Sapphire took that opportunity of freedom and ran as fast as she could towards her father. Seeing his daughter running towards him, Ash got on his knee and opened his arms for her as she jumped into him, and gave him a tight hug, something Ash gratefully returned.
"Oh Sapphire…Thank goodness you're alright. I was so worried about you." Ash said, tears of relief rolling down his cheeks.
"I love you daddy." Sapphire said, and Ash hugged her even tighter.
"I love you too, Sapphire." Ash said, and Wes just looked at his friend happily, proud that he was able to help reunite the two.
"Grr…great. We lost again. Well, I guess there's nothing left to do but blast off again." Jessie said, when suddenly, a large amount of whirring could be heard as helicopters lowered and surrounded the building Team Rocket was on.
"Halt! You are under arrest for kidnapping, and the attempted stealing of a Pokemon Trainers Pokemon. Surrender!" One of the pilots ordered, and the three thieves looked around, seeing that they were completely.
"Jessie, what are we going to do?" James asked, starting to get scared, apparent by his shaking knees.
"Relax. I always have an escape plan." Jessie said, and she pulled out a remote, and suddenly, the ground outside Phenac City started to crumble, until a metal drill poked through. The machine that was pushing the drill appeared out of the ground a few seconds later, revealing to be Team Rocket's original Gyarados sub, which was modified for underground travel. Attached to the sub was rocket silos, and Jessie pressed the button on the remote again, and rockets began flying from the silos, towards the helicopters. The pilots were able to move out of the way in time, but that gave Team Rocket an opened, and they ran over to a nearby ladder, slid down, and ran out of the city, and towards the sub. Once they got in, the three powered up the sub, and got ready to drill into the ground again.
"Metagross! Use Hyper Beam on that sub!" Wes ordered, and Metagross began to build up energy, and a few seconds later, as the sub pointed down, towards the ground, Metagross unleashed the energy in his Hyper Beam, making a direct hit on the sub. The sub was destroyed in an explosion, and three figures could be seen flying out of the explosion.
"Augh! Beaten again! I'm starting to hate that man!" Jessie yelled.
"Well, I felt sour for kidnapping that kid anyway…" James said.
"We're blasting off agaaaaaaaaain!" *ding*
When Ash and Wes returned to their friends, they were rushed with hugs from everyone, overwhelmed with happiness, seeing them alive and well, especially Sapphire, except she passed out from exhaustion due to all the excitement.
"ASH! SAPPHIRE! You're alright! Oh…I don't know what I'd do if I lost either of you!" Misty yelled, wrapping her husband and daughter in tight hug, though careful not to wake Sapphire. Ash began laughing, letting all his happiness overwhelm him as he wrapped an arm around Misty and hugged her back. "I'm so happy you two are safe…I've never been so scared in my life!" Misty said, tears flooding her cheeks as she let her emotions pour out of her.
"Yes Misty…we're alright. We're safe…and we're a complete family again. Just like a said we would." Ash said, and the two broke the hug, just so they could passionately kiss each other for several minutes.
"Wes, are you alright?" Rui asked, practically jumping onto Wes.
"Yes Rui, I'm fine. Things couldn't have turned out better for everyone. Ash and Misty have their daughter back, and Team Rocket was beaten once again." Wes said, kissing Rui similar to the way Ash was kissing Misty.
"Wes." Misty said, causing him to break his kiss with Rui and pay attention to Wes. "I'd like to thank you for helping us get Sapphire back. If it wasn't for you…things could've turned out much different…much worse." Misty said, doing her best not to think about what could've happened if Wes wasn't with them.
"It was my pleasure Misty. I'm just glad I could help, though, our Pokemon did more work than us. It's them we should all thank." Wes said, and Misty nodded.
"You're right off course, but still, if we didn't have you and your Pokemon with us…Ash would dead…and who knows what would've happened to Sapphire." Misty said.
"Misty's right Wes. I owe you and Metagross my and Sapphire's life." Ash said, and Wes just smiled.
With all the excitement over, the gang returned to their hotel to rest, and when they arrived, they were greeted by Officer Jenny, who was explaining the situation.
"Well, Team Rocket may have gotten away, but if they ever come back, we'll be waiting for them." Jenny said, and the group thanked for her efforts.
"So about that Pizza…" Brock asked, when suddenly, he felt someone hit his back, and he suddenly lost all feeling in his back as the poison from Croagunk's Poison Jab spread throughout his body. Once Brock collapsed on the floor, Croagunk proceeded to drag Brock to his room, while the others just laughed.
Although it was well passed midnight, Misty was too scared to go to sleep; she was worried that she'd wake up and see that Sapphire was gone again. So, instead of sleeping, she just sat on the bed her sleeping daughter was in, and gently stroked her red hair, careful not to wake her up.
"Misty, aren't you coming to bed?" Ash asked, sitting up since he couldn't go to sleep.
"I'm too scared Ash; I'm worried that I'll go to sleep, and Sapphire will have vanished again when I wake up." Misty said, and Ash just smiled as he got up, walked over to Misty, and slowly sat down next to her, careful so he wouldn't wake Sapphire.
"She's fine now Misty. She'll be in that tomorrow morning when you wake up, I promise." Ash said, and he started trailing soft kisses on her cheek and neck, causing Misty to smile.
"Okay." Misty said, and Ash got of the bed, and Misty was about to stand up, when she found herself being wrapped in Ash's arms, and lifted off the bed, and carried towards her own. Ash then proceeded to lay Misty down and tuck her in for her. "Ash Ketchum, since when did you become so caring?" Misty asked.
"Oh, about five years ago I think." Ash said, and Misty just chuckled, realizing that Ash was referring to the day they got married. Finally at peace, Misty closed her eyes and got some much needed sleep, thankful for having such wonderful friends, and a loving husband.